Living Standards and Poverty in Moldova

Beegle, Kathleen G.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: LIVING STANDARDS;    POVERTY THRESHOLD;    ABSOLUTE MEASURE OF POVERTY;    RISKS;    HOUSEHOLD SIZE;   

RP-ID  :  101181

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Poverty in Moldova is widespread andendemic, with poverty rates averaging 60 percent from 1997to 2002.As a starting point for a profile of poverty ratesand a description of recent trends, it is useful to put themacroeconomic situation in context2. Following significantdeclines in GDP in the early nineties, GDP per capita beganto recover through 1997, only to suffer due to vulnerabilityof the Moldovan economy to the Russian crisis. GDP fell bymore than 6 percent in 1998; by 1999, GDP per capita wassimilar to levels in 1994. Overall, GDP declined by over 65percent between 1990 until 2000. The movement in the povertyrate in recent years has paralleled these significantmacroeconomic developments. In the context of the rapideconomic changes in Moldova, the objective of this report isto examine multiple indicators of well-being to providegreater insight into the profile and dynamics of poverty inMoldova. A profile of poverty is crucial to the design ofeffective anti-poverty measures that will enable the countryto reduce poverty more effectively while promoting economicgrowth. The next sections of this report describe: (i) anoverview of expenditure-based poverty and inequalitymeasures, (ii) international comparisons (iii) non-incomebased measures of poverty, (iv) poverty profile and changesin risk, (v) patterns of poverty during crisis and recovery,and (vi) recommendations for improving the monitoring ofpoverty and living standards.